Our First Week

We have officially been in Korea for one week! We are living in our apartment with borrowed furniture and minimal stuff. Our belongings, that were packed up in Texas almost three months ago, are finally beginning their journey to our new home here in Korea. It will probably take two more months for everything to arrive, but we are managing quite well without all of our things. What I am really missing is my car. Angel has a very small vehicle and traveling with all the girls touching each other is proving to be overwhelming some days. But we are at least getting around when Angel has time to run us. I have not taken the driver's license test yet, so I am not able to drive here yet.


There were many tasks to be accomplished this week to inprocess the me and the girls. We had to be added into the ID system, get a ration card, fill out paperwork and put gather information for our NEO kit. In addition to the things required by the Army, we have also had appointments here at the apartment to have our internet connected, gas turned on and our bidet installed. All this with adjusting to the 13 hour time difference and there are days when we were just exhausted.

We managed to have some fun in between all the tasks that needed to be completed. One night we went to dinner at Reggies', the restaurant on Angel's post. After that we went to the post movie theatre to see "How to Train a Dragon." It was a cute movie and we had fun going out together.

I was finally able to meet my facebook friend Vikki, who has been living in Korea for one year now. She picked me up and took me out for a girls' night out. We actually went to HomePlus, a mega store located in Uijeongbu. It was like going to a mega super Walmart and then some. The store consisted of five different levels of grocery shopping, clothing, household items and food court, cafe/restaurants. The technology in this place was neat too. When we entered the parking garage, it told us how many parking spots were available on each level. On each level, above every parking spot was a light. If the light was green, it meant the space was free...while a red light meant the space was full. You could also take your shopping cart up and down the escaltor. Once you pushed your cart on, it would lock it's wheels into the escalator until you reached the end and pushed it off. Thank you Vikki for a fun night out!

On Saturday, we had planned on walking around our neighborhood, but due to constant downpours all day and night, we opted to drive around the area a bit. We found the following places within walking distance....Baskin Robbins, French Baguette, and Cold Stone Creamery. While driving around the area we also saw Dunkin Donuts, Outback Steakhouse and 7 Eleven. I love Dunkin Donuts for their hot tea and a plain bagel with cream cheese but on our drive around we decided to stop and try the donuts. See here in Korea, the donuts they make are like specialty donuts. We bought a 10 pack variety and each tried a bite of the different ones. Some were great, others interesting and some not so enjoyable. I should have taken a picture but everyone dug in so quick there wouldn't have been much to look at.

Well, there's a summary of our first week. We are enjoying ourselves so far. Korea will be our home for the next two years, so we need to make the best of it. Yes, it's different. Yes, they speak a different language. BUT we can still enjoy ourselves if we approach this tour with a good attitude, a willingness to learn and be taught by the national people and our faith in God that when things are tough, He is still with us.